The Tenants Show

The Art Studio Inc. was founded as a nonprofit corporation in 1983 by artists to encourage other artists to practice their disciplines in Southeast Texas. On display in the month of September is its annual Tenants Show highlighting the work of 15 artists who have studio space there.

Among a number of impressive pieces on display, the large canvases by the newest tenant command instant attention. Abby McLaurin has only been in town for a little over two months but her breathtaking artistry has already energized the Beaumont art scene.

A native of Charlotte, N.C., she studied at Coker College in Hartsville, S.C., and previously worked in Fort Worth. Although still at the beginning of her career, she has already received critical acclaim.

Wes Chester, curator of the Martha Pace Swift Gallery in San Diego, said, “Abigail McLaurin’s figures hold the razors edge of tension in a shadowy world between the certainty of the strong black line and emergent luminosity that makes them appear lit from within. Her canvases are gripping and visceral, pulling us into the darkness, to world of half-resolved forms, the paint worked with deliberate violence.”

While we harbor no disrespect for the Wall Street Journal who called us “that scrappy little paper from Southeast Texas,” we prefer to think of ourselves as simple seekers of the truth. We’re of the opinion that headlines and sound bites never tell the whole story. Our readers demand all the facts, facets and flavors of every story or event. And, they expect to be informed, educated and stirred to action.